Improv Challenge: Strawberry Pizza

The ingredients for May's Improv Challenge were strawberries and cream. Since strawberries are my favorite fruit and I eat them with breakfast from the minute they show up in the grocery stores right through when they're taken off the shelves, I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be able to participate in this challenge. I usually make challenge recipes about two weeks ahead of time but I figured this was just too close to our moving date that I wouldn't have enough time and I didn't want to chance feeling rushed.

But then, this happened: I randomly opened up the fridge in search of something sweet. I moved the extra sliced strawberries and half a package of cream cheese out of my way to grab a bite-sized piece of chocolate. Biting into my chocolate, I headed back to the bedroom where i was going to finish reading Food Blogging For Dummies*. About halfway to the bedroom I stopped dead in my tracks. I had the two ingredients for the Improv Challenge! Like any good cookaholic, I immediately turned around and headed back to the kitchen to find something to make.

I opened the fridge again and realized, sitting next to the carton of eggs was an extra package of sugar cookies. I instantly thought of "Strawberry Pizza". I know there are recipes out there for dessert pizzas so I didn't think this would be too much of a stretch.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Separate your dough into 8 equal parts. (If your dough comes in 24 pre-formed cookies, just combine 8 sets of 3 pre-formed dough pieces together). Shape dough into about a 3" in diameter circle and flatten slightly.
3. Place each round of dough 3 inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for 16-20 minutes, depending on the package directions. Cookies should be lightly golden brown.
4. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
5. Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Whisk until smooth.
6. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto a cookie and top with sliced strawberries. Garnish with additional fruits or fresh basil if desired.

This is such a simple and quick dessert! You could easily whip this up when you find out company is coming over unexpected or I think it'd be a great recipe for kids to help out with.

I want to experiment with this recipe a bit more and see if the sweetness from the cream cheese and strawberries work just as well on a non-sugared dough or if adding something like balsamic vinegar to drizzle over the strawberries will take away from the sweetness when its on a cookie.

* If you're a food blogger, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Food Blogging for Dummies. I could not put the book down and learned a TON of tips and tricks. I can't wait to begin implementing them here!

Thank you so much for buying my book! I am thrilled to hear it includes helpful tips for your blog :) Looking forward to continuing to follow all of your culinary adventures! - Kelly Senyei (Author of Food Blogging For Dummies)